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The new passenger terminal opening at Montreal Metropolitan Airport (YHU) has allowed Canadian carrier Porter Airlines to launch a whole host of routes just over the past few days, and the carrier has more routes planned. However, because of certain regulatory technicalities, the airport will only see domestic services to destinations within Canada. The airport is not even allowed to handle services to and from regional destinations in the United States.
This feature dives deep into the reason as to why the airport is restricted to domestic operations and Porter’s route network from the Metropolitan Airport.
Restricted To Domestic Operations Only
Montreal Metropolitan Airport opened its new passenger terminal earlier this week, on Monday, June 15, and the terminal has been operational since day one. This airport was formerly known as Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport. On Monday, Porter Airlines launched three services to Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ), Vancouver International Airport (YVR), and St. John’s International Airport (YYT).
Since then, the carrier has launched four more routes within Canada, and the airline will be launching a further four routes across today and in the coming days. Considering this new set of services, it is obvious that all the routes are domestic. This is because of an “international flight exclusivity clause” found in the lease agreements of Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL), which prevents the Metropolitan Airport from handling international flight services.
The exclusivity clause essentially prohibits any secondary airport in proximity to YUL from handling international services, thereby making it impossible for another airport within the greater Montreal area from competing against YUL. While this guarantees protection for YUL, the Canadian Competition Bureau is against such exclusivity clauses and recommends its elimination, because this would allow for better competition, which is better for the consumers/passengers, providing them with more options.
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Seven Routes Launched, Four To Go
While international services are currently not possible, Porter has gone ahead and launched seven new routes this week, with the carrier launching two more today, and two more in the coming days. This essentially means the airport, along with Porter, will provide connectivity to 11 Canadian destinations within a week of its passenger terminal opening.
The carrier will be operating most of these services using its fleet of Embraer E195-E2 jets, while three services will see the airline deploy its smaller de Havilland Dash 8-400 prop aircraft. The full list of Porter’s routes from Metropolitan Airport will be as follows:
Destination | Toronto Billy Bishop (YTZ) | Vancouver (YVR) | St. John’s International (YYT) | Edmonton (YEG) | Toronto Pearson (YYZ) | Halifax (YHZ) | Calgary (YYC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Already Launched | June 15 | June 16 | June 17 | ||||
Destination | Winnipeg (YWG) | Charlottetown (YYG) | |||||
Launching Today (at the time of writing) | June 18 | ||||||
Destination | Moncton International (YQM) | Hamilton John International (YHM) | |||||
Planned Launch | June 19 | June 22 | |||||
According to Airways Magazine, the forecasted data indicates the facility will handle around one million passengers this year, and upon full completion of the project, the facility will have a handling capacity of up to four million annual passengers. The airport’s location and proximity to downtown Montreal. This would be attractive to domestic passengers wishing to fly to Montreal, as they can then avoid the rush and hassles of flying to the larger and busier YUL airport.
How Porter Airlines Is Building Montreal’s 2nd Airport Without Repeating A $30 Billion Disaster
Montreal’s new $450 million airport, YHU, aims to avoid Mirabel’s pitfalls by focusing on domestic convenience rather than international prestige.
Porter’s Montreal Expansion Plans
Upon launching all 11 aforementioned routes from YHU, Porter will be operating 138 weekly flights to various Canadian cities. This is part of the carrier’s broader expansion strategy in the region, as reports indicate Porter aims to double its capacity in the region and serve Greater Montreal this summer with over a thousand flights. A significant success to the airline’s operational expansion can be attributed to Porter’s growing fleet of E195-E2s.
Furthermore, CBC News reports that upon becoming fully operational, there is potential for the airport to be categorized within the top ten busiest airports in the country. Paired with the fact that the airport now serves as an alternative to YUL for domestic travel, and that it would also have lower airport fees compared to a major hub airport such as YUL, it is possible for carriers to offer attractive fares on flights to Montreal Metropolitan Airport.
Considering the current industry trend of high fuel prices increasing passenger fares, the opportunity to offer competitive fares to a secondary airport would definitely be attractive to passengers. However, passengers wishing to undertake international travel to and from Montreal are still limited to using YUL for the foreseeable future.
